How about you?”
“At times. I try to ignore the pain and just use the frozen bags of peas. They really do help. Other than the hip replacement, how are things?”
“Are you asking to be polite or do you really want to know?” Angus asked.
Eva thought she’d never heard a sadder voice. “Is there anything I can do, Angus?”
“Not unless you have a magic potion that will turn my son into a charming young prince. What was that all about earlier?”
Eva decided not to pretend she didn’t know what her old friend was talking about. “Rivalry would be my guess. Two strong, bullheaded people pushing each other’s buttons. How is the store doing, Angus?”
“According to my son, not well at all. He blames me. Says I’m an old fuddy-duddy. He says I have no foresight. He claims I’m locked in the past. He said the last time I had an idea was the day, almost twenty years ago, when I gave you the lifetime lease on the gift wrap department, and from that day on, it was all downhill. He doesn’t like me much, Eva. Yesterday he called me a meddler.”
Eva threw her hands in the air. “What did you do? Or should I be asking what didn’t you do? Josh was always such a wonderful young man. How did it all go wrong? I don’t understand any of this, Angus.”
Angus leaned forward. “Look at me, Eva. I have something to tell you that is going to affect you as well as your daughter. My son just told me a few minutes ago when I called him that he’s leaving the store the first of the year. He’s accepted a job at Harrods in London. That means the store will be closing. He’s been telling me that for the past year but I…I just blamed him for not knowing what he was doing. I was…I was cruel about it, saying things like I made a mistake when I turned things over to him, that he wasn’t up to the job.”
“Oh, Angus, how could you do something like that?” How was she going to tell her daughter they would both be out of a job after the holidays with only her Social Security coming in?
“Because I’m a horse’s patoot, that’s how. Josh has been telling me for years that we had to streamline the store, we had to keep up with marketing trends. He wanted to hire new buyers, be more mainstream. I fought him every step of the way. He wanted to restructure everything. That meant layoffs. I didn’t want to deal with it. One time he actually called me a dried-up old fart and told me I deserved whatever happened with the store. He was right and I was wrong. And I’m not going to lie to you, Eva, but the gift-wrapping shop was always a thorn in Josh’s side. He thought, and I’m sure he still thinks, that you and I had an affair that is ongoing. I think that’s another reason he keeps going to the mat with your daughter.”
Eva’s thoughts were all over the place as she stared at her old friend. “I thought the store was doing well. How could I have been so wrong? What are you going to do?”
“What can I do? Josh’s mind is made up—he’s leaving because he’s fed up. I have to admire his spunk. He gave it his best shot, and I just kept fouling up everything he did. Now all my chickens are coming home to roost.”
“For heaven’s sake, Angus, Josh is your son. You can’t let him leave under these conditions. You have to make this right. There’s nothing in this world more important than family. If you don’t take a stand now, you’ll never get Josh back. What’s so hard about saying you’re sorry, that you made mistakes? You can’t just let Eagle’s close their doors. Eagle’s is an institution in this town. Shame on you, Angus Eagle. I’m going to bed now. I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I have therapy at seven o’clock.”
“Eva, wait. Help me out here.”
“Oh, no. It doesn’t work that way. You’re the only one who can make this right. I’m willing to cancel that lifetime lease and renegotiate a new one. In fact, I insist. I’ll call my lawyer in the morning.”
“That’s a drop in the bucket, Eva. The gift-wrapping shop was never about money. In the beginning it was a courtesy to our customers. You’re the one who turned it into a money-maker. Then Josh wanted to use the gift wrap department space to outfit a safari department. He said it was the ‘in’ thing. I’m ashamed to admit I laughed at him. Two days later, I heard a group of men on the golf course talking about all the gear they’d just purchased because they were going on safari. One of the men poked my arm and said Eagle’s didn’t even know what a safari was. Even then, I couldn’t see it. I guess I am a dried-up old fart, just like Josh said I was.”
“Yes, Angus, I guess you are just one big gas bubble. I certainly don’t envy you.”
Eva struggled to her feet as she leaned heavily on her cane. She knew she’d been sitting too long. She could hardly wait to get to her room so she could ring the nurse to ask for a bag of frozen peas. She moved off as she tried to figure out how she was going to tell her daughter what Angus had just shared with her.
Christmas this year was going to be bittersweet, she thought.
When Eva woke the following morning the first thing she saw was Angus Eagle standing in the open doorway. “How long have you been standing there, Angus?” she gasped.
“About an hour. You snore. I thought only men snored. Can I come in and sit down? I didn’t sleep all night. I’ve been walking up and down the halls and I’m getting tired.”
“For heaven’s sake, come in and sit down. For your information, everyone snores, even children.” Eva pushed the button on the remote to raise her bed. She wished she had a cup of coffee.
“I asked a nurse to bring us some coffee. I hope that was okay. Listen, Eva, you were always so grounded. I assume you still are. That’s one of the things I always admired about you. I need your help and I’m not ashamed to be asking, either. For me to give in now, to give up total control when we’re just months from closing our doors seems a bit silly to me. Josh won’t buy into it. You know that old saying—too little, too late. You know as well as I do that the Christmas season revenues can carry a store for a whole year. We depend on that revenue. What should I do?”
“Angus, I know nothing about the retail business. My only claim to fame is I know how to gift wrap packages. I think you should talk to my daughter. She seems to have an eye and ear to the business. In the past she spent hours and hours telling me all the things wrong with the store. And I know for a fact she dropped dozens of suggestions in Eagle’s suggestion box on the second floor because she thought if you had more foot traffic, she would have more gifts to wrap. We had a really bad summer, everyone was buying from the discount houses. That’s something else you didn’t take into consideration. They popped up all over town like mushrooms. For the record, all of Angie’s suggestions were ignored.”
Angus’s voice was desperate when he asked, “Will your daughter talk to me?”
“Of course she’ll talk to you. What kind of child do you think I raised? It’s your son she won’t talk to. But when I tell her he really isn’t her enemy, that you are, well, I don’t know for sure. There’s no doubt about it, Angus, you’re standing knee-deep in a mess. Of your own making, I might add.”
“I know that, Eva. Help me out here.”
“Put yourself in your son’s shoes. What would you like your father to do? How would you handle it?”
Angus shrugged. “Josh said I never listened to him. It’s true. All of a sudden, I’m going to listen now, when it’s
